Neurotrauma and Brain Barriers Research Laboratory

History

The Neurotrauma and Brain Barriers Research Laboratory was established in 2008 at the Department of Emergency Medicine and is directed by Dr. Adam Chodobski. Our laboratory is located on the Rhode Island Hospital Campus in Coro West, Suite 112. Our research focuses on dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier resulting from neurotrauma, post-traumatic brain edema, and neuroinflammation.

Investigators and Collaborators

Adam Chodobski, PhD

Dr. Chodobski is an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and is a trainer in the Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology Graduate Program at Brown University. Native of Poland, he received his master's degree in biomedical engineering from the Technical University in Warsaw and a PhD in neuroscience from Medical School of Warsaw. He spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine in Melbourne, Australia. He was also a recipient of the Wellcome Trust grant to conduct research in the Department of Physiology at St Thomas's Hospital in London, UK. Dr. Chodobski joined the faculty at Alpert Medical School in 1995. He is a member of several professional societies and served as a reviewer at various study sections at the NIH. He has edited a book on the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. His research is supported by NIH. In 1999 Dr. Chodobski and his wife Dr. Joanna Szmydynger-Chodobska established a new Gordon Research Conference Series on "Barriers of the CNS." This conference has become one of two major international conferences on brain barriers, attracting many scientists in the field from and outside the US.

Joanna Szmydynger-Chodobska, PhD

Dr. Szmydynger-Chodobska is an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. Like her husband Dr. Adam Chodobski, she is native of Poland. She received her master's degree in biology from Warsaw University and a PhD in neuroscience from Medical School of Warsaw. She pursued her pre-doctoral training at the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine in Melbourne, Australia, where she accompanied her husband, working on water and electrolyte balance in the brain. Dr. Chodobska joined the faculty at Alpert Medical School in 1995. She is a member of several professional societies and published articles in various scientific journals. In 1999 Dr. Szmydynger-Chodobska together with her husband Dr. Adam Chodobski established and co-chaired a new Gordon Research Conference Series on "Barriers of the CNS."

Brian Zink, MD

Dr. Brian Zink is Professor and Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brown University, and Chief of Emergency Medicine at Rhode Island and The Miriam Hospitals. He received his MD from the University of Rochester, and did his emergency medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati program, where he was a Chief Resident in 1987–88. Previously, Dr. Zink has served as assistant dean for medical student career development, associate dean for student programs and director of student biomedical research programs at the University of Michigan Medical School. He is a member of numerous professional societies and advisory boards. He has expertise both in clinical and experimental traumatic brain injury with particular interest in the role of alcohol in TBI. He collaborates with Drs. Chodobski on translational aspects of research on TBI.

Otis Warren, MD

Otis Warren, MD, is an assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He did his residency at Alameda County Medical Center in Oakland, CA and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2005. His research interests are related to the clinical evaluation of alcohol-intoxicated patients, and the relation to traumatic brain injury. His involvement with the Chodobski lab is in clinical research on inflammatory mediators of traumatic brain injury.

Jean-Francois Ghersi-Egea, PharmD, PhD

Dr. Ghersi-Egea is the head of the Neurooncology and Neuroinflammation Program and the Blood-Brain Interface Group at INSERM, Lyon University, France. His interest is in pathophysiology and pharmacology of the blood-brain and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barriers. Dr. Ghersi-Egea collaborates with Drs. Chodobski on various projects concerning the role of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier in traumatic brain injury. These studies focus on post-traumatic production of proinflammatory mediators and invasion of inflammatory cells.

Nathalie Strazielle, PharmD, PhD

Dr. Strazielle is an independent investigator and the head of Brain-I R&D in Neuropharmacology at INSERM, Lyon University, France. She is an expert in the in vitro models of brain barriers. She studies the metabolism and transport of drugs and endogenous factors across the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. Her company offers research and development services to both the academia and industry.

Danica Stanimirovic, MD, PhD

Dr. Stanimirovic is the director of neurobiology program at the Institute for Biological Sciences, National Research Council of Canada. She is an expert in proteomics of the blood-brain barrier. Dr. Stanimirovic collaborates with Drs. Chodobski on proteomic analysis of vasopressin-dependent changes in BBB function.